Wish Upon A Star
by bitternessbitesback
Summary: When you wish upon a star, it is actually a satellite, and your wish has been recorded & cataloged. An agent is now assigned to your case. (Agents AU, High School AU, Not Super-powered AU, Character Death)
1. Prologue

The City of Townsville, normally a happy and boisterous place, was very gloomy today. The clouds were gray and heavy with rain not yet ready to spill, it was cold, and a certain scientist was definitely feeling the effects of the weather. He was miserable, none of his inventions of late had worked, his car had gotten a flat tire _and_ was broken into the day he'd gone to get it fixed. Life was throwing him a curve ball and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hit it away. This scientist was currently walking out of the grocery store, when he heard the thunder above him. Curiously looking up at the sky for just a moment, he didn't notice the tear in his grocery bags and was, to say the least, shocked when they tore open, spilling their contents onto the pavement of the parking lot. He groaned and said a string of choice words under his breath, after all, he was _so_ close to his car. Nothing seemed to be going right lately, and to be quite frank, he was not happy with it in the slightest. He wondered then if when the universe had heard his wish just a few days ago, it decided to mock him instead. Laughing right in his face, it seemed, at the fact he wanted children. As if it was such a joy.

You see, John had always known he wanted to be a father, even from a young age. And when he got married, that's what his wife wanted too. However, they were ironically and tragically infertile. The adoption paperwork they would send in kept coming back negative, and his wife was appalled at the idea of a sperm donor. So she decided that since neither of them were getting younger, and it was obviously his fault for being infertile (working in a lab with dangerous chemicals killed his sperm), to divorce him for someone better. She wanted a family and couldn't have that with him. It was about four days ago and the divorce was officiated, with neither of them wanting anything from the other. Later that night he had wished upon a star for a miracle, for him to have kids. They were what he had wanted more than anything in the world.

That night after he got home, he put his groceries away and sat in front of his TV, bored and miserable. It was around 9 o'clock he had heard knocking. Perplexed at who could be rapping at his door this hour, he got up and opened it to see three beautiful baby girls in a basket with a note attached to them. _'They must be no more than three months old'_ he thought, hastily bringing them into his humble abode, not wanting them to catch their death outside in the freezing cold. On the note was nothing more than their names and to please take care of them. Silently thanking the heavens, he only wished they'd shown up sooner, when he was back at the grocery store. However, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he didn't care how many times he would need to go to the store; he would do it as many times as he had to for these three beautiful girls.

Nearly 17 years had passed since that night and they know now it was not a coincidence the girls had showed up on his doorstep mere days after he had wished for children. You see, at a young age, the girls had been recruited to join a top secret agency called SAINT (StAr INitiaTive) and assist them in their goal to make everyone's wishes, no matter how small, come true. The girls were perplexed at the idea, and the Professor had to be reassured multiple times that the chances of them getting injured are slim to none. Ultimately, the girls had agreed as long as it didn't interfere with their schooling and that was that. Every now and then they would get a text, email, even a bird sometimes with their mission. They were among the best operatives the company had ever seen and were glad they recruited the girls when they did. The potential was overwhelming and the success rate had gone up a whopping 15% since their joining.

However we'll get to that later, because the reason the girls had been recruited was due to their remarkable abilities. Blossom was incredibly intelligent (as were her sisters, but she was more logic driven than them) and had taught herself programming and coding at the age of 11 after having read all there is to read she was interested in. She learned to hack and released the unsafe and unjust practices of corrupt companies anonymously to the public, loving that she was able to help even a few people. She was always safe when hacking though and always made sure no one would ever be able to trace it back to her. She even hacked some of the government systems like the FBI and CIA just to see if she could. Blossom had taught herself so much, she was able to skip most of her courses and earned the ability to take classes at Townsville Community College and is on track to graduate early. She's currently taking classes to get her engineering degree with a minor in psychology. Some of the kids at her school were jealous of the red-head while others asked her to tutor them. She happily obliged and would have a study group every Tuesday and Thursday due to her ballet and agent responsibilities. The only thing abnormal about her other than her brain was her eyes. You see they are bubblegum pink in color, the Professor had done some tests when she was young and realized she has the very rare trait that is Alexandria's genesis, however instead of violet, they're pink. When she was younger some of the kids had been frightened by her, but it didn't take long for them to warm up to her, realizing she was no demon and having a smart friend was always a plus.

For Buttercup, she was recruited due to her incredible athletic ability. Any sport she tried, she was instantly good at. She took kickboxing, karate, and countless other martial arts classes. The Professor wanted the girls to be able to protect themselves when he wasn't around and it proved effective in controlling Buttercup's temper. She also meditated but it was really her skills in combat the agency was interested in. While all three girls were able to learn fast at whatever they put their minds to, it was obvious she's the fighting machine and would be needed for more dangerous missions like getting a child out of a bad home. While she is very intelligent like her older sister, she doesn't care about school or the classes, but is able to pass them no matter hard she slacks off. The school while confused, just thought she was bored with the curriculum and put her into AP and honors classes like her sisters. Buttercup's also on track to graduate early, but still she hardly participates in anything that has to do with school that isn't sports related. She takes classes at TCC like her sister, but it is mostly just core classes so she can get "official" credits for school and maybe have a major in business so she could run a gym someday. She is aspiring to join the MMA when she is old enough and the agency agreed to not interfere with her work, although they were hoping she would become a full time agent one day, as they had the same hope for her sisters.

Bubbles, last but not least, was recruited for her strange ability to learn any language after only hearing it once. She has the smarts of her sisters and is on track to graduate early as well, and is taking college courses like Blossom and Buttercup. Except her classes are for a veterinary degree with her minor having her take classes to become a human doctor as well. She wants to be an arts teacher too one day, but has decided to focus on her medical degrees for now. Although Bubbles is smart, she also enjoys doing all of the extra curricular classes the school allows her to take. Her interests are mainly in art, choir, cheer leading, and track. She also takes gymnastics classes after school on the days Blossom goes to her dance classes and is able to get a ride. On her days off she volunteers at the animal shelter as well as the daycare center. Bubbles is also an overall great people pleaser and is able to resolve even the most deadly of conflicts. Throughout her years, she was often seen as the most emotionally vulnerable of her sisters, to which she likes to use to her advantage. Whilst Bubbles doesn't cry as much as she did as a kid, she is still seen that way by most people. In fact, many feet the need to protect her (even if she can protect herself just fine).

Blossom and her sisters were special, the agency had noticed it immediately when they picked up the girls for the Professor. SAINT had been keeping an eye on them ever since, not failing to notice the urge to help others was strong in the three girls. They had seen it when they were still in elementary school standing up to bullies, had seen it in middle school when they helped their classmates or even a stranger on the street, and continued to see it now even in high school with their volunteer work and missions. These girls have surpassed everyone's expectations, after all they were still in middle school when they were recruited. The director could see how proud their father was and feels some pride too for the girls. After all, he had trained them to become better, stronger, smarter, and faster. They are by far the youngest recruits he has, but they are also the best.

* * *

In the Utonium household three girls, nearly young women now, were getting ready for the day to begin. The oldest of the three, Blossom, had just finished brushing her long orange hair and was currently trying to wake the second oldest, Buttercup. The youngest of the three, Bubbles, was still in her PJ's, swaying along to the beat of the music as she prepared breakfast for her family. A squabble could be heard upstairs, but it was nothing to fret about, it's just the dragon waking up. The parent of these three girls, John Utonium (or the Professor as they called him), had set up the table and took over for Bubbles with cooking, telling her to get ready for school. She smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek, handing him the spatula and racing up the stairs. He chuckled at the seemingly hectic nature of his house while reminiscing on the day he had gotten the three wonderful girls that he had no idea would change his life forever in the best way imaginably possible.

As the Professor finished putting the food on the round table, he could hear two out of three of his daughters coming down the stairs. The first of which he could only assume was Blossom, as he could hear Buttercup muttering under her breath and stomping slowly down the stairs, none to happy to be up. Her chin length black hair un-brushed, and clothes totally encompassing the mood she was feeling (I don't care, I'd rather be home), still in her joggers and baggy shirt she had slept in the night before. Blossom, on the other hand, looked a bit professional for a school setting, but then again, she had always dressed nice for any occasion. As had Bubbles, but her style was a bit different. She is more girly than the other two and wore more skirts and dresses to school. She also tended to like them to be flowy, wearing those types of skirts with a loose tucked in shirt. Blossom dressed in longer skirts and stuck to button ups or plain tees. It was a rare occasion if she went out in jeans and graphic tee if she was going to school.

"Good morning girls!" He said, chipper tone in his voice as he sat down at the table and started serving himself some food.

"Morning Professor!" Blossom replied, equally as chipper, taking the seat the the right of him and grabbing some pancakes as well as a couple pieces of bacon and pouring herself some water.

Buttercup just grunted as she sat across from her father, grabbing a plate and filling it with eggs, bacon, and sausage and pouring a glass of milk. She always had quite the appetite, after all she needs a lot protein if she wanted to stay fit and healthy. She also grabbed a slice of toast and started nibbling on it, still half asleep. The Professor smiled softly at his two daughters in admiration and couldn't believe how old they were getting. Soon they would be turning seventeen, before they graduate in December. They were growing up so fast, what with already taking college courses, volunteering at any place they could, and of course going on missions from SAINT. It's a wonder how they're able juggle it all, though he couldn't help but feel sad realizing that soon they would move out and pursue their own dreams. Only calling occasionally and visiting for the holidays. Blossom's voice took him away from his melancholy thoughts as he briefly heard her calling out for the youngest sibling to hurry up and come down.

"I'm almost done!" Is all Bubbles said in response as the other three downstairs shake their heads, knowing full well that she was not.

Buttercup was now alert and awake as she scarfed down her food, only responding to Blossom's questions once every three mouthfuls. The red-head looked disgusted with her sisters actions, but continued talking with her about school and missions they had. _'They have so much responsibilities on their shoulders already and still they are so young, I could never do that and not be bitter about it. I wouldn't have been able to handle the stress at their age'_ The Professor thought, looking at his girls once more while picking at his food as a feeling of pride and amazement washed over him. These were his girls, how did he ever get so lucky? It was then Bubbles finally came down in all her glory and sat down at the table to his left and Buttercup's right. She grabbed a couple of pancakes as well as some toast and poured herself some orange juice. It was funny how similar yet different all three were. Obviously though with Bubbles' vegetarianism, she wouldn't have touched the meat anyway.

They finished their food relatively quickly and cleaned up their plates. After they took their pills and brushed their teeth before heading to the car, where the Professor was waiting to take them to school. As they all piled into the car, he smiled sadly and drove them off to school. _'I wonder how I'll ever manage with out them?'_ he wonders as they say their goodbyes and he drives off to work.


	2. Chapter 1: Beginnings

After getting out of their father's car, they each took a look at their schedule. You see, today is technically the start of the new school year, their junior year to be precise. They had gone to the student portal the day before and printed off the papers so they wouldn't have to go to the office like everybody else, after all that was just a hassle. They commented on which classes they shared, and although they were all in AP and honors classes, they had different teachers. So far they all shared B lunch; Bubbles has Mythology and Folklore and Gym with Blossom. The only class Bubbles shared with Buttercup was their forensics class. Blossom only shared Mandarin Chinese 3 with Buttercup. Other than that, they had similar classes all at different times. At least they'd be able to help each other with the homework for those classes.

Once they checked where all their classes were, they parted ways and went to their lockers. Usually, the Utonium sisters were the only ones who brought all the stuff they needed on the first day of school. That was simply due to the fact that teachers typically only handed out syllabuses one the first day and very rarely ever handed out homework. That wouldn't happen until later in the week. Still, the girls thought it best to come prepared and brought a couple notebooks with them in a small bag to each class just in case. After all, they didn't want to get one of those teachers that actually _teach_ them on the first day.

Buttercup groaned as she heard the first bell ring, telling her she had six minutes to get to her fist class. _'I bet they're going to make us learn each others name's and try those stupid get-to-know me friend games'_ she thought, scoffing. Nobody likes them and yet the teachers continue to do them. Sure, it's probably just the teachers trying to do something to help them remember the names of their students, but god was it annoying. So there she was, making her way to her Astronomy class, opting to take that instead of chemistry. Even though it was something she was interested in, she didn't want to be anywhere first thing in the morning. Normally she would have free period for first to do her homework/sleep, but that was the only time for the class that had the teacher she liked. Her name was Ms. Keane and she taught some of the science classes along with the math classes. Her sisters and her always tried to get into her classes because they were the most fun and she didn't assign homework over breaks. Though she was nice, people learned pretty easily not to test her. She was scary when she was mad, because she wouldn't even yell. She was calm and that's as irrational as the numbers she teaches!

Bubbles, meanwhile, was on the other side of the school trying to make it to her art class on time. It was her favorite class and she was excited to have it first thing in the morning. She, unlike Buttercup, was a morning person. However, do not try to wake her up before she plans to, she might as well become another person and be scarier than her elder sister. Her teacher Ms. Kintoki, was the sweetest person on the planet and didn't mind if you were a little bit late. Even so, Bubbles loved being in her class every year and was determined not to be late. Though, if it was another one of her classes, she would've just walked at her normal pace. Still, she was excited to be back and see all her friends. She had gotten a part time job over the summer working at Water World alongside her one with the agency and hadn't gotten to see them as much as she had liked, which also caused her previous relationship to fail. However, those thoughts didn't bother her for longer than a second as she happily skipped into her classroom, determined to make the day a great one despite her recent melancholy thoughts.

When the first bell rang, Blossom was already at her English class. She liked being on time, if not early, to every class she had. It was the perfect way to ensure she got the seat she wanted, especially if the teacher didn't enforce a seating chart. She liked sitting in the second row, closest to the window. That way she could still pay attention to the teacher as well as look out the window and see the view. It helped her thinking process, if she got stuck on an idea or problem, the window would (seemingly in her mind) point her in the correct direction. It always helped calm her down when she was stressed and since she always did all her work on time and knew the answers when they didn't think she was paying attention, the teachers would let her be. Plus, getting to the class early meant she would have time to read her latest novel before the class actually started. It allowed her time to relax and take her mind off of her troubles, especially when she was particularly stressed out from work, school, or her extracurricular activities. The teacher who was there started putting get-to-know me papers on the desks and Blossom mentally sighed. Like her younger sister Buttercup, Blossom held no fancy for this particular activity. She didn't particularly care about getting to know her other classmates, and was happy with the friends she already had thank-you-very-much. It was pointless and the only one who didn't see it that way was her cheerful baby sister, Bubbles. While Blossom was not a fan of doing it, she filled it out anyway but didn't vocalize her distaste of it like Buttercup did. All she could do was do it, she wasn't the one who made the curriculum anyway, so she just had to hold out and do it for every single class she would have that day. Upon filling out the sheet Blossom also sent a text to he current boyfriend Dexter, he was so sweet to her and she almost wished they went to the same school. He went off to a private school whist she opted to stay with her sisters, and although she missed him she doesn't regret choosing to stay at Townsville High.

Where as both Bubbles and Blossom were already at their classes, Buttercup barely made it to her's before the late bell rang. She chose the only seat available, one row from the back of the class and plopped into the seat. The teacher had decided to wait for any stragglers before introducing herself to the class, whether or not they knew her. She handed out both the syllabus and get-to-know me sheets to the class as some people groaned while others filled them out. Buttercup, obviously was among the people groaning. Doing this sheet every year for every class but gym was a pain in the ass and she was glad this would be her last year of doing it. Begrudgingly, she started filling out the paper as Ms. Keane had given her a pointed look. It wasn't like anybody cared about this anyway, but whatever. If she had to fill it out she would, just don't expect her to be that forthcoming with the answers or when she had to introduce herself to the class. She was always particularly short with her answers and the teachers didn't give a damn as long as she filled it out. After all, participation counted. Buttercup was among the first who was done with her paper so she put her head on the desk and listened discretely to her music not wanting her iPod to get taken away.

It wasn't long before the class finished and they were put into groups of four, being instructed to switch papers and discuss with their peers. Thankfully, Buttercup was able to stay in her seat as Ms. Keane split them up. Next to her was Mitch, who she didn't even realize was in this class, and two other kids she didn't know. Her and Mitch bumped fists as he sat down next to her and waited for the other two to introduce themselves first. Across from Buttercup sat a blond haired boy (hair a bit of a darker shade than the platinum color that was her sister's hair) whose name was Boomer. He liked photography and played baseball. The one next to him was a pale boy named Elmer, his hair even lighter than Bubbles, almost white in color. Buttercup briefly remembered the glue eating boy from her kindergarten class, he had moved away the next year, but clearly he was back. She learned that he wanted to be a lawyer when he was older, to be able to stand up for those who couldn't. When Mitch introduced himself, he said he was aiming to be the best rock star in the world. Lastly was Buttercup.

"Names Buttercup," She told them in a bored voice, "I want to join the MMA and go on to be a world renowned fighter." Finishing her statement with a shrug. After introductions were all said and done, Ms. Keane went over the syllabus with them as well as her no late work policy.

With Blossom, her class was forced to stand up and introduce themselves individually. She was not at all fond of this idea because while she came off as a confident person, she secretly had a fear of public speaking. Out of the three of her sisters, she was the most intricate with speaking her thoughts; however her youngest sister was the best at speaking in front of others, even if her mouth got ahead of her brain sometimes. Blossom was actually a very anxious person, though most people didn't notice, she did have her quirks. She had her bad habits of chewing on her nails when nervous, as well as biting her lips and the inside of her cheeks. she would also put her hands behind her back in an attempt to keep people from seeing her fidget with her hair bands. Mentally preparing herself for when it came to her turn, she recited what she was going to say in her head like a chant. 5 more people left before her, she straightened out her paper and pencil. 3 people left and she tucked a stray hair behind her ear. 1 person before her, she took a deep breath and stood as soon as they sat down.

"Hello, my name is Blossom," She started, "A hobby of mine is reading, I'd like to become an engineer one day, and my best subject is trigonometry."

The person behind her went next as she sat down with a sigh of relief. It was done. She wouldn't have to do this again until next period. She was fine. It was okay. She wouldn't have to do this in her college classes. _She was fine_. She managed to calm herself down a bit and briefly listened to her other classmates introductions, wanting this day to get done with sooner rather than later. Resting her head on her left hand, she looked out the window and spotted a blue jay's nest. The mama bird was feeding it's four babies. She smiled at them before turning her attention back to the class, trying a bit harder to pay attention to her classmates.

Bubbles, unlike her sisters, was having a grand ole time. She was making friends and learning about her new classmates, after all she had met nearly all of them. She was as chipper as the birds outside and was excited to meet new people,more than happy to fill out the sheet and discuss it with her classmates. She was glad to find out Robin was in her class, at least there was one person she knew. Although, new friends were good too! She had met all of her table-mates and even ventured to the other tables. There were five other people that sat at the table with her. The first one was to her right and named Eliza. She had brown hair in a pixie cut and wanted to become a composer when she was older. The one to the right of Eliza was Robin who wanted to become a journalist. Next was the boy to Bubbles left, his name was Jeff and he was in a wheel chair. Bubbles only slightly remembered him from her kindergarten class, the shaggy blond hair jolting her memory. He liked to do tricks at the skate park. The next two were Floyd and Lloyd who had also been in her kindergarten class and some others growing up. They were closer to Buttercup's friend Mitch than they were to her. They just wanted to "chill" is all they said.

She had also met some other people from her class, but the one's at her table would be who she'd be spending the most time with. She'd introduced herself and told them how she aimed to be a veterinarian when she grew up and how she'd probably be an art teacher after that, telling them about her college classes and about her sisters. She had also asked them all a crap ton of questions when she realized she was probably talking their ears off and apologized for getting so excited with a nervous chuckle. After that, their teacher went over the syllabus, answering any questions, and let them do as they please for the rest of the class period. Bubbles just knew it was going to be a good day, her sisters did not share her outlook.

* * *

Today had been a long day, much to Bubbles disappointment, and had not gone that well. She had left her lunch at home, so she was forced to share bits of food with her sisters, who did not have that many vegetarian options. Then she had gotten locked in the bathroom of the gym and was very embarrassed for the rest of the period. Also, since she's so clumsy, she scraped her knee in the hallways walking to class and now she had rug burn. Never the less, she was not going to let this ruin her day. She was determined to make this day a good day, so when she got home she's going to paint to relieve her stress.

Blossom was just anxious to get home so she could finish her book before dinner, ready to get her mind off of the day she had. Some kid had the nerve to stick gum in her hair! So she was forced to put peanut butter in it to get it out and now she had to wash it. Maybe she'll do that first and then finish her book? She didn't know, she just was ready to get home. Buttercup felt the same, she was going to relax up in her room on her bed playing video games before she had to start dinner. She was making burgers (veggie ones included) tonight so she would have to thaw them out. Maybe she'd make green beans while she was at it along with fries? Oh well, she still had a while to think about it.

It didn't take them long to walk home, they just lived a couple blocks away and the Professor wan't able to pick them up since he didn't always get off work that early. He had odd office hours and would often lose track of time so easily he wouldn't get home until 9 or 10 at night. He was currently studying stem cells in an attempt to better understand them and see which diseases they could cure or help.

Anyway, as soon as they got home, each girl went off to do their own thing. Blossom washed her hair and instead of finishing her novel, decided to get a head start on her English project for her college class as well as did some reading of her chemistry text book. Bubbles ended up painting a beach with a mermaid looking out to the ocean before she decided to turn on her classical music to help her focus on her yoga stretches. Meanwhile, Buttercup set out the meat to thaw and took out vegetables for Bubbles to eat other than green beans. Instead of playing video games and being anti-social in her room, she sat downstairs and caught up on "Arrow" on Netflix. At four was when Buttercup started preparing dinner for her sisters and her, putting in an extra serving for the Professor just in case. Bubbles had come down a bit early and helped her finish up the food while Blossom set the table and poured them all glasses of water. It wasn't long before the food was done and Buttercup set it on the table, with the exception of the Professor's whose food she put in Tupperware for him later.

"This food is really good guys!" Blossom exclaimed after taking a bite of her burger, "Thanks for dinner."

"No problem," Buttercup replied, taking her seat in between her sisters.

"Thanks for making a veggie-burger for me," Bubbles said gratefully, after all she knew how Buttercup didn't like to make them. Secretly Buttercup was insecure if she was making them right, just wanting to accommodate for her sister. She merely shrugged, continuing to eat her burger while Blossom and Bubbles shared a knowing smile before getting back to their food. Buttercup wasn't always used to thanks or compliments, so when she received them she acted like she didn't care or awkwardly looked away.

They continued to make small talk as they finished their dinner, not really wanting to talk about school but still wanting to hang out together. By the time they finished eating, it was still pretty early to go to bed, so they decided to continue watching some episodes of Riverdale together, it was a rare occasion for them to find a show they all liked and were interested in. After all, Buttercup liked more action, Bubbles more romance or rom-com's, and Blossom had her documentaries. Of course there were some shows and movies that the other girls liked but wouldn't admit (Buttercup loves My Big Fat Greek Wedding), but even if one of them didn't like a show or whatever their sister was watching, they'd still watch it with them. After all, that's what you do for family, watch shows you're not interested in with them.

At 9 PM they called it a night and got ready for bed, took their sleep medicine, said their good nights, and found the most comfortable spot in bed before the agency's ringtone started up on all three girls' laptops effectively ruining their attempt to sleep. So they all got up and turned on their computers to answer and saw their sister's faces on the screen as well as the Director's. They greeted him, waiting respectfully (or with annoyance in Buttercup's case) for him to give them their assignment. Why else would he be bothering them on a school night?

"We've just got the biggest wish this agency has seen in years," He informed them, "It is your duty to make it come true."

Just then their computers dinged with a notification from their emails. All three girls looked at it, but Blossom was the only one who made a move to open it, Bubbles and Buttercup entirely too tired to even try. After all, they had school tomorrow and classes to go to.

"Can this wait till tomorrow?" Buttercup whined, she wanted to go to bed okay? The Director gave her a look, and she promptly sat back up in her chair, choosing instead to look at the document he sent. Her eyes widening at the mission brief.

"Are you sure about this sir," Buttercup hear Blossom ask incredulously, "Wouldn't more experienced operatives be better for this assignment?" She made a good point, as her sister's didn't feel they were ready for this kind of responsibility of someone's wish.

"You _are_ SAINT's best operatives and the whole agency feels you three would be best suited for this mission," Was all he said before bidding them a good bye and ended the call. It was only seconds after that both Buttercup and Bubbles went to Blossom's room to talk about it.

"We're not ready!" Buttercup yelled as quietly as she could with out bothering the neighbors.

"He thinks we are," Bubbles countered, though she felt the same as Buttercup.

"We've done more intense mission's than these," Blossom reminded them, recapping their missions in other countries to save kids from their parents, married couples from each other, etc, etc. They offered people new lives and freedom from their demons.

"But _this_ ," Buttercup said, pointing to Blossom's monitor, "Is out of our league."

"We'll talk more about this tomorrow," Blossom replied, "Right now we need to get some sleep."

Her sisters agreed with her, slipping into her bed and shutting off the lights, each too tired to go back to their respective rooms.

* * *

When the Professor got home, he had a mini panic attack when Bubbles wasn't in her bed and immediately ran to check on Blossom, but relaxed and found a smile rise to his face upon seeing they'd stayed in Blossom's room for the night. Luckily, Blossom had a king sized bed that would fit all three. The only reason for this is because Blossom took their old room from when they still all slept in it. After they'd grown too old to share a room, the Professor accommodated for each of them. Bubbles got the guest bedroom with a queen sized bed, her room was just a bit smaller than Blossom's which allowed her room for her art as well as her stuffed animals, and Buttercup got the bedroom in the attic which had a twin sized bed in it. Buttercup didn't feel she needed a huge bed and just needed room for her desk, as well as her guitar and CD's. Blossom's and Bubbles' rooms were connected by a bathroom, which meant she normally had to wait a bit if she woke up any earlier to get ready. Though she usually opted to take a shower at night, after she was already all sweaty and gross. The Professor had offered his room up to one of the girls so one wouldn't have to sleep in the attic, but Buttercup said she liked it up there anyways.

Fortunately, they had a shed in the back yard so they didn't have much stuff in the attic. It was when the girls were 10 that the Professor started fixing up the attic and fumigating it for his second eldest. He also had inspectors come in and check it out when he was done. The he painted it a dark green color for her, put dark wood flooring in, as well as moved all her stuff up there in a way he'd hoped she would like. He did the same with his other two daughters and got them new sheets as well. When they all got home on their 11th birthday, it was finally finished and the girls couldn't be happier. Blossom finally had room for her books, Bubbles for her stuffed animals, and Buttercup for her sports equipment. The girls had given him the biggest smiles he'd ever seen and gave him each a big hug. Finally they had room to be themselves without getting on each other's nerves. Snapping out of his thoughts, he whispered good night to his girls and slipped out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind him and going off to bed.


	3. Chapter 2: Mission Possible?

Bubbles was the first to get up, a little disorientated at first before it all started coming back to her. With the smallest of frowns, she rolled over and checked the time. 5:45 AM glared back at her in fluorescent red numbers. Groaning slightly, Bubbles got out of her sister's bed and slowly made her way to the shared bathroom, the entrance being to the left of Blossom's closet. She went right on through to her room, grabbed her stuff and made sure to lock the bathroom doors before starting to shower.

It was only about ten minutes later that Blossom had woke to the sound of the shower running. _'Must be Bubs'_ she thought groggily, considering it was "too early to exist" in Buttercup's words. Fortunately, whenever school started up again it was typically on a Thursday, which thankfully meant today was Friday. They could focus on the mission after school today since none of their extracurricular activities had started up yet, which meant they could come up with a plan. Blossom narrowed her eyes in thought, this was not going to be an easy one, not in the slightest. She heard the shower turn off and started to gather up her clothes for the day. It was only a couple minutes before she heard the youngest unlock her side of the door before going into her own room. Blossom set the alarm for Buttercup and then went off to take her own shower.

Buttercup, meanwhile, slept peacefully throughout both of her sister's getting ready, blow driers and all. It wasn't until the alarm started blaring it's sirens at 6:35 in the freaking morning that Buttercup even dared to open her eyes. She had no such plans at getting up at such an ungodly hour and was perplexed as to why there was an alarm going off when she didn't have one. Then it hit her, she slept in Blossom's room last night. That's why she could hear the blow dryer in the next room, why she could smell the bacon better, and why it was so fucking pink in here! Begrudgingly she got up and shut off the offending object. Then she got up and went to her room to get ready, not before taking a whiff of her pits though and deciding that, yes, she did need to shower too. Luckily for her, it sounded like Blossom was almost done.  
Trudging up the stairs to her own room, Buttercup figured finding clothes to wear now was easier than doing it later in a towel. Digging through her hamper, she was able to find something somewhat presentable that also didn't make her smell like she was decaying.  
'You can take a shower now' was the text she got from Blossom, so downstairs she went, off to get ready for the day. The mission having completely slipped her mind.

Downstairs, Bubbles was making breakfast for her sisters, deciding to let the Professor sleep in and just save some for him. They can walk today anyway. She swayed to her music as she was making food, absentmindedly singing along. It wasn't long before Blossom came downstairs, setting the table as per usual before sitting as her spot with her nose in her latest book. Buttercup was down shortly afterwards, having opted to take a shorter shower, and sat next to her sister. Or, rather that was the plan, instead Blossom had asked her to help french braid her hair. Buttercup groaned before standing behind her older sister. Blossom had a lot of hair, okay? It didn't help that it was thick too, the damn thing. Her copper locks went down to just above her butt, except when it was in a pony tail, then it went to her mid back. Ironically, even though Buttercup's hair was the shortest, she was also considerably good at doing hair. If Bubbles was busy, she would help Blossom do her hair and vise versa with doing Bubbles hair when Blossom couldn't.

"Thank you," Blossom absentmindedly said, lost in her book and only tracing the rivets in her braid the littlest bit once Buttercup finished.

Buttercup just made a sound in the back of her throat, finally sat down, and gorged herself on the food that Bubbles made. Blossom only picked at her food, and Bubbles put the Professor's breakfast away before sitting down to eat her fruit salad and toast. Last night, she had the foresight to pack their lunches and even put each of theirs in their respective bags this morning, that way no one would forget their lunch and it wouldn't go to waste. The girls all finished relatively quickly and tossed their dishes into the sink, opting to do them later. They took their pills and vitamins respectively before leaving a note for the Professor upon leaving the house, briefly hearing his alarm go off as they shut the door.

* * *

So far, school had been rather uneventful. The teachers were still trying to remember everyone's names, but they were also starting to teach them. Not much though, it wasn't like they were giving them assignments already. Which was good, especially since the girls got a mission right off the bat. They had just finished an assignment in Peru anonymously donating an exceptional amount of money to the school there in Atalaya in order to benefit the children's education. They had also gone to Ancash to save a little girl from her awful uncle who treated her like dirt. Though the circumstances saddened them greatly, the cities were beautiful. Ancash, Peru was surrounded by mountains though and reminded Bubbles of Montana a bit. She was also glad to be able to brush up on her Spanish as well as learn some Quechua and Aymara.

Bubbles was startled out of her thoughts as the bell rang, signalling the end of fifth period, meaning she could finally eat lunch. She, quite frankly, was looking forward to her PB&J sandwich. As she made her way to her locker to get her sketch book so she could draw under her favorite spot. It was on the east side of the building hidden away by the bushes and other trees growing there. Bubbles, however, had a specific tree she liked best. It was perfect to climb on to draw from new angles, as well as had a pretty comfy spot to sit under and protect her from the sun. Well, that's what she had planned before she ran right into someone. Thankfully, neither of them were carrying anything, so nothing spilled, but Bubbles still felt bad.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so so sorry," She told the kid, "I'm such a klutz, I should've been watching where I was going," She continued, getting a good look at the person.

He was tall, at _least_ 6'3", way taller than her judging by how she had to strain her neck to look up at him. He was almost as pale as her eldest sister, had as many freckles as she did for sure, his hair was to his shoulders it looked like, and it was an auburn color. It was covered in a backwards red baseball cap. He was wearing a red flannel shirt with navy blue jeans and black converse. The only thing that struck her as odd were his eyes, ruby red in color. Though it didn't stop her rambling and apologies for long.

"I really should've been paying attention, I'm such an airhead," She told him, laughing awkwardly. His eyebrows had risen up in what looked like surprise, his eyes shined in amusement as she turned scarlet, realizing she had been talking too much. "Sorry for talking your ear off too." She expressed her remorse. Truly she felt bad for the boy, having ran into the wrong person.

He shook his head, chuckling a bit before replying to her, "It's okay, really," He reassured her, "I hardly felt it."

Normally, he would've been more annoyed at this happening, but he'd had his coffee today, he was going to lunch soon, and it wasn't completely her fault. Plus, she looked like someone who was really sensitive, and acted like one too, so he let it go. She sighed cutely in relief before holding out her hand and introducing herself to him. _'Bubbles huh? Definitely fitting'_ he thought with a smirk.

"Brick," He returned the gesture, taking her hand in his and shaking it briefly.

"It's nice to meet you!" She told him cheerfully, a thousand watt smile on her face, "But I've got to go, so I'll see you around, yeah?"

"Yeah," He replied, nodding. She gave him a wave as she turned away and... skipped down the hall? He shook his head at her antics, not having expected to meet someone so interesting on his second day. Now that he thought about it, she didn't shy away from him when she saw his eyes, which was strange. However, he had other things to do with his time than be perplexed by a hyperactive 5'2" chick.

Meanwhile, Bubbles ran right past her locker, having to talk to Blossom about the very curious guy she'd met. After all, not many people had unusual eye colors, and an even rarer few had a shade of red as their unusual eye color. As far as Bubbles knew, there was only one member of that club. Was being the operative word, considering there is now someone else other than her sister who had that genome. However, while Brick's are red, her sister's are pink. Still, they're both a shade of red, something the blonde had not been expecting. It's not like it was a bad thing, she was just excited that her sister wasn't alone. She finally had someone she could relate to about her strange eye color who would actually get it, to say Bubbles was giddy would be an understatement.

On the other side of the school, walking towards the library, was Blossom, completely unaware of her excitable sister. She was walking alongside her childhood friend Robin Snyder, discussing their favorite characters from various shows, movies, and books when her sister tackled her.

"Ouch," Blossom groaned, looking up at the enthusiastic face of her sister, "Bubbles! What the heck?"

Giggling, Bubbles got off of her elder sister and helped her up, before apologizing sheepishly and quickly going into a tangent on the guy she literally ran into minutes before. She was talking so fast Blossom was barely able to keep up with what she was saying. All Blossom could do was blink when Bubbles stopped speaking, unsure of how to reply. She opened her mouth briefly, before closing it again. Someone else had the same condition as her? Except he had red eyes? To say Blossom was perplexed would be an understatement. The odds of that being possible are completely improbable. Well evidently not. Bubbles watched as her eldest sister paced the corridor, having not expected this reaction from her. Blossom was muttering under her breath when Bubbles gasped suddenly out of no where. This shocked Blossom out of her internal musings and just plain shocked Robin as they both looked at the blonde girl.

"I forgot my lunch in my locker!" She exclaimed, slapping her hand to her forehead before running off in the direction she came. Blossom and Robin shook their heads before resuming their trip to the library, momentarily forgetting about the mysterious red eyed boy.

* * *

Buttercup was at her own locker when Bubbles raced past her, barely even giving her a wave before continuing on her way. Leaving Buttercup perplexed about her sister's antics, and shaking her head at all the people Bubbles almost ran into along the way. It was a wonder, considering how clumsy she is. Buttercup wouldn't be surprised if her younger sister had already ran into a number of people before Buttercup had seen her. Right now, the middle child was putting her stuff away in her locker and only taking her lunch out of it. She was _starving_ after not eating since breakfast, plus Bubbles always made the best food. Also, Buttercup was a growing girl! Don't judge her gluttony.

She was going to eat lunch with Mitch and her other skater friends when Blossom texted her to meet at their usual spot to go over the mission. Rolling her eyes and groaning at the inconvenience, Buttercup texted back to say she was on her way. Shutting her locker with a bit more force than necessary, she made her way down to the courtyard where their tree was. Okay, it wasn't technically their tree but they sat there all the time and Bubbles liked to sit under it and draw whenever she could. Bubbles also had another drawing spot secluded away from the world that she could go if she needed space, but she got a better view of people to draw at the other tree where they ate.

It didn't take long for Bubbles to catch up to Buttercup and they walked to their spot together, wondering together just how they would be able to complete this latest mission. It was the most difficult one they've ever been assigned. When they first became operatives, they just did little things like give people a little bit of money to make their day better, or gave a loving family the dog they always wanted. Simple things like that. When they got older, they started going on missions to help people's living conditions. They gave the homeless shelters food, saved spouses from domestic abuse and gave them a better life. As they got better, they got harder missions, more dangerous missions. They dealt with drug dealers, mobsters, sex traffickers, and more. They gave a lot of people second chances and helped out people whenever they could. The girls loved helping people, and really this mission isn't that difficult a one, it's just who the wish affects. If they make even one wrong move and get caught, their lives and the people they love could very well be in danger.

"So what're we doing leader girl?" Buttercup questioned upon seeing Blossom sitting at the picnic table under the tree.

"Attempting to come up with a plan," She told them before taking out her phone, "We need to look at the file again to know exactly what we're dealing with here."

Her sisters nodded and sat down at the table as well. The only thing that stood out to them last night was Him. The most corrupt and evil person in the entire world, (Donald Trump coming to a close second) who runs a seemingly harmless business from the outside. He owns pretty much all of Citiesville and has been buying up a lot of real estate in Townsville as of late. Him Corp. is a law firm, which ironically isn't that interested in benefiting the innocent. Him's company is only interested in the rich, and thus eff everybody else who isn't that. Also, since he's a racist bastard, if you're not white then you can go screw yourself. Ironically, Him is married to a black man named Mojo Jojo. Only lord knows why they're still together. Though to be fair the man had only been seen in public only a handful of times and it was quite suspicious to say the least, hopefully he wasn't dead but Buttercup wondered if that might be better depending on how Him treats Mojo.

As they opened the mission brief, they were faced with the angry looking tomato that was Him. He tries so hard to be tan, but all he does is burn. Maybe he should start using sunscreen? Anyway, as the girls looked it over, it seemed the billionaire had three sons that wanted out of the family business. Turns out the company was practicing a lot of unlawful acts considering what it was fronting as. In actuality it was an assassination company, makes a bit more sense now considering the clientele. Also explains how Him can afford to be so disgusting. As the girls read on, theirs faces turned from confusion to shock and finally to horror.

"How could someone do that to their own family?" Bubbles wondered, appalled at the mans actions.

Blossom just shook her head, hand over her mouth. They had cases like this before, but this was just mashing them all up into one. No matter how many cases they get with domestic/child abuse as well as sexual assault, they are always faced with the same disgust. How could someone be so terrible? No wonder his children wanted to be free. How could they live like this for so long?

"It says his kids go to our school," Buttercup pointed out, causing her sisters to look back at the file, "That will make things a bit easier."

"Brick, Butch, and Boomer Jojo," Blossom read aloud.  
"Oh!" Bubbles exclaimed, "I know Brick! He's the one I was telling you about earlier, you know, with the red eyes."  
"And I know his brother Boomer, he's in my class," Buttercup commented, "Wait, red eyes?"  
"Yeah, seems like he has the same genome as Blossom," Bubbles told her, "I ran into him this morning."  
"I don't know if he has the same gene as me Bubs," Blossom said looking over the file once more.  
"What do you mean?" Bubbles asked, tilting her head in confusion.  
"It says here that Him experimented on them. Even if Brick had the same gene as me, it wouldn't have made his eyes such a vibrant red. Probably would've made it a deeper red color, closer to brown." Blossom informed them.

Looking towards Bubbles, Blossom could see the out rage in her eyes. After all, these were his children, who would do that? Okay, the Professor did it and it was only to gain a better understanding of her eye color, when he found the specific gene, he stopped the tests immediately and it didn't make her eyes brighter. He also didn't experiment on his other two daughters for the heck of it. Him, on the other hand, didn't seem to have an agenda other than making his sons' and husband's lives a living hell.

"We need to get more research on this guy so we can figure out how to properly save his children as well as husband," Blossom stated, "For now we should befriend his children." Her sisters nodded in agreement, opting to finish their food before the bell for sixth period rang.

Across the way were the three boys the girls had been previously talking about. You see, Him hadn't experimented on his children for fun, he did it so they would be his own personal body guards, his eyes and ears if you will. He enhanced them and gave them super-human like abilities. Brick had x-ray vision which helped him to break into vaults and whatever else his father had him break in to. Butch had super human strength, superior to that of his brothers. He was just strong enough for someone to think he was on steroids, but not to know he could bench press a bus. Boomer seemed almost invisible half the time, he was able to sneak in and out of anyplace without getting caught. Though with their abilities, they were still human, much to Him's dismay. Mojo did not support his partner's experimentation of their kids, but he had long since had a say in the relationship.

While the boys despised Him, they actually cared about Mojo. Mojo was kind to them and when they were kids, he would take their beatings without hesitation. As they got older and Him came up with more creative ways to torture them, Mojo would take care of their wounds. Mojo pushed them to be their own people, to be more than mindless drones. He does everything in his power to protect them, always has. He's the only reason the boys haven't ran away by now. For Him would surely kill Mojo without any hesitation for letting them "get away".

The boys also had better hearing due to the experiments and their curiosity had gotten the better of them when they heard the girls say their names. After all, not many people knew them here already. They were looking at something on the red-head's tablet that was telling them about the boys. They knew that Him experimented on them and that was already too much information. How did they know all this stuff? Why did they want to save them?

"What is going on here?" Boomer wondered aloud, "How do they know that much about us?"  
"The better question is how _much_ do they know about us?" Brick replied, "They want to be our friends for more info, we should do the same." His brother's gave him questioning looks.  
"We need to find out more about them, find out how much they know," He informed them, rolling his eyes.  
"Sounds like a plan," Butch said, weirdly agreeable for once.

As the bell for sixth period rang, they parted ways, each wondering what life would be like with the seemingly harmless girls trying to "save" them. After all, the girls didn't look like much, and even if they had some secret super abilities, there's no way they could take on the boys' father. Although who knows, appearances can be deceiving.

* * *

The girls had absolutely no clue how to go about befriending the boys they had to rescue. While all three were relatively good at making friends, it becomes awkward when it's apart of the job. It makes them feel guilty, like they're using them for their own selfish needs. Although that could be true since they just needed to find a way to bypass the security the boys' home is bound to have to make the mission easier, it feels like a lie. No matter how many missions they have, the girls have never found it easier to befriend their targets, even if it is to better their lives. The only time they haven't had trouble is when they were donating to charities or volunteering and doing simple missions which didn't put them or their targets at risk if they got caught. Though it's just part of the job they suppose.

Blossom had cross-referenced their schedule's with the boys and found out they actually shared a few classes, which should make the befriending thing easier. Buttercup was the only one who didn't have a class with Brick. Brick and Bubbles only shared one class, art; as did Brick and Blossom which was their honors trigonometry class. Butch shared the most classes with them, sharing first and second period with Blossom. He also shared third, fifth, and seventh period with Buttercup. Since Bubbles had the same second period as Blossom and the same seventh period as Buttercup, she also shared those classes with Butch. Boomer shared first period with Buttercup (which she already knew), third with Bubbles, and seventh with Blossom. Other than their classes, the boys also had the same lunch period as the girls.

Brick had done much the same as Blossom, choosing to go one step further and investigate them. He couldn't find anything incriminating on them though, much to his chagrin. It was infuriating, especially since they knew so much about his brothers and him. All he found was that the girls were adopted, literally nothing else. He had superior hacking abilities, so it vexed him to no end that he couldn't even find a Facebook or any type of social media. _'What century are they living in?'_ he wondered. They could just have private profiles but nobody can be so impossible to find. Oh wait! He finally found something... it was just an article about their father and how he had won some science award about four years back. It only had their names under the picture and that was it. He found another article about their adoptive father but it was about some huge fire that resulted in the death of another daughter called Bunny, she was only five. Turns out the fire was pretty deadly and resulted in 3,000 people loosing their lives, he then looked at the date and saw that the article was written seven years ago making the girls only ten. The article also said that Bunny was a foster child who came from a series of bad homes.

Still the fact that he couldn't find anything really interesting on the girls themselves other than volunteering and science projects posted by the school's site was not ideal. Everybody leaves a fingerprint, how the hell they could be so far off the grid was a wonder to him. Even their younger sister had more information than them and she only lived till she was five! Other than the classes they took, the fact they are set to graduate early, and that they take fifty extracurricular activities, he knew nothing about them. They were brilliant and apparently excellent at managing time. Brick was determined to find out more about these mysterious girls.

He had so many questions buzzing around his head that he could hardly focus in class. How did they know so much about them? How could he not find anything on them? Was the blonde bumping into him really a coincidence? How did he not notice sharing class with a someone who has pink eyes? How exactly is he going to befriend them? And so on, each question taking him further into his own mind and away from his lecturing teacher. Luckily Boomer shared this period with him and gave him a copy of notes when the bell startled him out of his thoughts.

Speaking of Boomer he sat in his second to last class of the day and was shocked to find out that he shared workshop with Blossom, especially since she didn't seem like the type to be into it. It didn't help that she sometimes dressed the same as the teachers with her button ups and pencil skirts. Though, to be fair, he had only really seen her once and had never spoken to her so he can't judge. He decided to take a seat next to her before class began, though she appeared to be lost in her thoughts. He was suddenly reminded of his oldest brother, who in their math class had the same faraway look on his face she did at the moment. He decided to try to be brave and introduce himself to her, the best way to get her attention obviously being to awkwardly cough to get her attention.

"Do you need a cough drop?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Oh, uhm, no thank you. I, I was just trying to get your attention..." He trailed off awkwardly, looking away as she just gave him a plain look, "I thought since we're sitting next to each other and all that it would be fun to introduce ourselves to each other" he explained.

She shot him a funny look before reaching out her left hand to shake, causing him to take note of the tip of her pinkie finger was missing, "My name is Blossom."  
He took her hand in his and shook it before introducing himself, "I'm Boomer."  
"You know introductions were yesterday," She joked, a teasing smile resting on her face.  
"I, I wasn't really paying attention." He admitted, face beet red and shifting in his seat.  
"It's okay, neither was I." She laughed, a little awkwardly since she was supposed to always pay attention.

It was then that the teacher came in and started them on their assignment for the day, though Blossom found it easy to talk to Boomer and helped him with his project. He was a little awkward in his movements so she decided to assist him on getting the right technique, and scolded him for not wearing the gloves. He could cut his finger! Maybe that's what happened to her? Though they had fun and the class passed by quickly for them.

Across the hall were Bubbles and Buttercup, making inside jokes about forensics and how they'd probably learn more from the agency. Though Bubbles did her best to keep her sister on track, after all she didn't feel like being moved. Butch sat behind them with his table-mate Robin. Every now and then the girls turned around to talk to them, mostly Robin though. Butch had briefly introduced himself to them before deciding to turn up his music and look out the window.

The teacher was just lecturing them before she told the class to work on lifting finger prints from glass. The girls had already finished long before him and Robin had. They had finished almost immediately, much to Butch's surprise. Bubbles didn't look like the sharpest tool in the shed (no offence) and Buttercup didn't look like she could be bothered to do anything. Either they were genius' or they completely bull-shitted the entire thing. That's what Butch wanted to do, but Robin threatened him if he let her grade slip by even a fraction. And to be honest, he'd rather not face her wrath and find out if she kept her promises. Though since they had also finished early he now had nothing to do, hence the staring out the window. However he changed his mind and decided to nap the rest of class to make it go by faster, since looking out the window wasn't helping. After all, he didn't really feel like befriending those girls right now. They didn't seem to be making a move to befriend him either so what did it matter if he didn't try right away?

* * *

The boys hadn't learned anything new about the girls other than Blossom wants to be an engineer who has a partially missing finger. Brick did not foresee this outcome, he hoped they would get as much dirt on the girls that they have on them. Apparently that was too much to ask however since the girls knew how to how to keep their lives off the internet. Brick had tried to discreetly ask around about them but apparently they liked to keep busy (which he knew with all of the after school activities and shit) and they traveled a lot. They had little to no free time and it was a wonder they had friends since they could never hangout, it was a wonder they could even date. Blossom allegedly has a boyfriend who goes to another school and Bubbles had just gotten out of a relationship with a girl named Susie. Unfortunately Brick hadn't been able to learn why they travel so much, he just knew that they missed school sometimes because of it.

They didn't really seem like vacations either since Brick highly doubts they would know how to relax if it punched them in the face. Although if they weren't travelling to get away and take a vacation then it doesn't make sense why they would go in the first place. It wasn't business trips with their father either because he hardly went with them. It could be that they have a lot of deaths in the family, but that still wouldn't work with their father staying home.

"Hey, Blossom added me on Facebook," Boomer said incredulously, shocking Brick from his thoughts.  
"Well then add her back." Brick replied, already over to where Boomer was, wanting to see what the girl posts.

To say he was disappointed would be an understatement. Her profile pic was of her and her sisters and her cover photo was of a park. She only had pictures of her and her family, some book quotes and poetry, and some posts about whatever new political scandal is happening this time. Her page said she was in a relationship but the other person must not have a Facebook since they're not tagged. There's nothing really interesting and it made her seem like a regular girl, though he knew she wasn't. She wouldn't have so much information on him and his brothers if she was.

The Utonium sisters were a conundrum, he couldn't figure them out. What was their goal? What did they hope to achieve? And how come she doesn't have any photos of all the trips she allegedly takes? One would think that Blossom would have tons of pictures from all over, but she doesn't. She only has pictures from if she's gone somewhere with her whole family, not when it's just her sisters. Come to think of it, he hadn't found any information on them having any other family either. Their father was an only child, and his parents were dead, so on second thought her family having a lot of deaths wouldn't make sense. Especially from what he can see the only family she has on Facebook are her father and sisters. Odd she only had 36 friends, meaning she must not give out her Facebook or add people often. Which makes him all the more curious of her. Why is she so private? Are her sisters the same way? They surely must be, but he wouldn't know for sure until he got to know them better. Maybe he could try with that Bubbles chick on Monday? Oh well, he'd have to be patient, not really his strong suit but he can't help it.

Brick was once again startled from his thoughts as he heard the door downstairs slam with such a force it practically shook the whole house. Brick shared a look with Boomer as they made a run for their rooms, their father was not in a good mood and they were not going to get in his way. There was no stopping him when he was angry, they just hope their dad will be okay. But there isn't much they can do, Him could kill them without a second thought if they ever tried to stand up to him. Brick could hear yelling and pleading coming from downstairs, so he turned on his music and tuned out the noise from downstairs hoping it would be done soon, and that their father would not still be angry enough to come upstairs and go after them.


	4. Chapter 3: The Investigation Continues

It was Saturday and Blossom was trying to figure out how this mission would work with the girls current schedules. Saturday's Bubbles volunteered at the Furry Friends Animal Shelter and Buttercup had karate. Bubbles usually stayed at the shelter the whole day, though Buttercup should be done with Karate by noon. Blossom was surprisingly the only one who didn't have plans over the weekends, Dexter was pretty busy with school so they couldn't always hang out much to her chagrin. Though Blossom did have to go to therapy, just not as often as Bubbles. You see, Blossom suffers from anxiety and has to take med's to help her out, she only has to go to therapy every once in a while to see if her med's are still working and if she just needs to talk about something. Bubbles on the other hand has severe depression and has to take medication to help her be motivated to do even the simplest tasks like getting out of bed in the morning or brushing her teeth. She sees a therapist once a week and it has been helping her out a lot, as have all of the extracurricular activities she takes. The only medication Buttercup has to take is her multivitamins because she's anemic. She also needs a lot of protein due to all the sports she does.

Anyway, Blossom was the only one home since the Professor has to get groceries so she decided to get started on their mission by hacking into Him Corp to get his schedule. If they were going to break into his house, she needed to know when he was panning on being in the office and when he wasn't. The guy has a lot of protection and security precautions however, so it took Blossom longer than it normally would to hack into a regular law firm. What would typically take an hour at most took close to three and a half, and even then it took another hour to scour through all the files he had. She never knew there were so many! She didn't think so many people actually went to Him or his law firm for help with their cases, she also assumed their would be a file or document labeled "boss's schedule" or something to make it easier to find. Obviously that would be too easy, and it seemed like he didn't want to make it easy. When she finally found it, the label was called "case_0499". She would've never noticed it if she weren't going into each and every file there was. She gathered up all the files and put them onto hew newest flash drive just in case, she didn't want to miss anything. Then she set back up all the firewalls and security precautions so nobody would be suspicious or think anything out of the ordinary had happened.

Now all she needed to do was stakeout his home so she could find out his personal schedule, she couldn't afford to get caught after all. Blossom also knew for a fact he had guards and cameras all over the place, so she needed to disable the cameras and watch for when she would be able to sneak into the house. It would take more than one day of watching, that was for sure. She always felt like a stalker whenever she had to do a stakeout, she didn't like watching people or ingraining the schedules into her brain. Someone should not know that much about someone else, it just wasn't right.

"Buttercup should be home soon." Blossom pondered aloud, reading the clock on the computer,"I wonder if the Professor will be home too?"

It was nearly noon and he should've been home by now, though he could have gotten side tracked along the way. It was completely likely since he always got distracted while shopping. Checking the time again, Blossom figured she better actually get dressed and ready for the day. Now that she thought about it her dad might be waiting to pick up Buttercup, considering her class would be close to done. That made more sense, he probably took a while shopping and decided it was better to just wait for her rather than driving back and forth. Hopefully he didn't get anything that would go bad in the car. Oh well, it'll be fine, what she needed to do was get out of her pajamas and into some actual clothes. Since she wasn't going to school she didn't feel the need to dress nicely, so she threw on a pair of jeans and a pale pink tee as well as a pair of her white converse. She might throw on a cardigan too, since it was getting close to fall, though she didn't think she would need it. Hearing the garage door open Blossom decided to wait to decide until later, once her sisters were home so they could stakeout the Jojo household together. She'd feel better if she wasn't doing it alone.

* * *

Bubbles had been at the shelter for hours now, and while she loved the animals, she just wasn't feeling it today. This wasn't where she wanted to be even though it was her favorite place. She did have to pick up her reading glasses today though so she might as well leave early to get them. Bidding a goodbye to the animals and the people who worked there, she set out to the optometrists office. Glancing down at her phone, Bubbles skimmed over the message Blossom sent. Turns out she wants to watch the Jojo's house, learn the family's schedule. Bubbles figured it would probably be easier to just befriend the guys and then hangout at their place, but maybe their father's wouldn't allow it. Besides, who knew how much time that would take? The boys and Mojo could be dead by then, and they would have failed their mission. Naturally it's when she's looking at her phone that Bubbles runs into someone.

"Oh gosh! I'm so sorry!" Bubbles exclaimed before getting a good look at the person,"Brick! Hey! We have got to stop meeting like this."

"You make a habit of not watching where you're going?" He asked, raising his eyebrow in what she took as amusement.  
"I try not to," She replied, shaking her head,"What're you up to?"  
"Just goin' for a stroll, thought I'd explore a bit."  
"Would you like me to show you around? I just have to pick up something first."  
"Sure. After all, I only really know where the school is."  
"Awesome! First you're gonna need to turn around, we're going this way first."  
"After you."

With that they headed off in the direction of the eye doctor's. Bubbles messaged her sister saying she'd be home a bit late, while Brick thought there couldn't have been a better time to run into her. They knew too much and he knew nothing, it was more than a little unnerving. Bubbles on the other hand thought this would be a perfect time to get to know him, all they knew was what the file said, not what he was really like. She was always curious about her targets, wanting to know more than what was on paper. After all, a person's file didn't always make the person.

As they walked down main street Bubbles showed him the buildings and explained their history to Brick. She realized she was rambling, but couldn't help herself. She loved the city and everyone in it, he could tell. Though to be honest he didn't realize he signed up for a history lesson when he accepted her offer. On one hand it was very interesting, on the other hand he just wanted to know where the bookstore, library, and game shop were. Though he supposed it was good to know where the clothing centers and restaurants were too. Bubbles actually recommended a few cheap places to shop where the quality wasn't shit, his words not hers. She showed him where the good cheap food was as well, which was good since he didn't want to spend a pretty penny on food. His father may be rich, didn't mean that he was. His brothers and him didn't see a lick of the money their father earned, not unless their dad snuck some out for them or gave them his own. What surprised Brick though was when they stopped at the optometrists. He watched as Bubbles took the case from the woman behind the counter and thanked her. He didn't know she needed glasses, she must be wearing contacts.

"I use them to read," Bubbles explained, seeing the shock in his eyes. He just nodded and they continued on their way, heading in the opposite direction from which they came.

"So where'd you live before you came here?" She asked him.

"We lived in Citiesville." He replied.

"What brought you here?" She questioned, looking up at him curiously.

He shrugged and she let it drop, she really didn't have the right to investigate him despite what her mission entailed. If he didn't want to share he didn't have to. When they reached the animal shelter, Bubbles explained the history to him and how she volunteered there whenever she could, though it was mostly on weekends. It was clear she loved the place, though she obviously loved the whole town. He didn't get it, what was so great about this place? The crime rate was through the roof and the law enforcement couldn't do shit. That's why his father was so rich, he had great business here. That was a big part of the reason he set up shop in this city, there were more rich people in Townsville than Citiesville, and that's what Him wanted. Him didn't love his husband, or his sons; he only loves money.

Brick walked along with Bubbles for a long time before they reached a hill overlooking the beach, he didn't even realize they left the city part because he was so lost in his thoughts. Bubbles didn't seem to mind that he wouldn't reply to her much, seemingly content on being the one to fill the silence. She didn't pry into his life anymore than the reason he moved here. She simply asked impersonal questions that Brick felt comfortable answering. He couldn't get why she wanted to get to know him, she had a whole file on him! Still he answered her countless questions, and even asked some of his own. This girl, while hyperactive and talkative, was still a mystery to him. What did she want?

"I love coming up here," She told him, sighing contentedly.

"It seems peaceful," He replied whilst looking around and noting not many people were around.

"Oh, it is! I come here all the time to just get away, it puts me at ease." Bubbles was noticeably less hyper and was talking a bit slower.

"What could you have to get away from?" He asked incredulously, shock only barely visible on his features.

"Everybody has something to get away from," She informed him, giving him a blank look, "Even the happiest people."

It was at that moment for the first time years he felt dumb and he said nothing as they continued to a bench near the edge of the cliff. Upon reaching the bench they sat down and Bubbles leaned back, closing her eyes. She had a peaceful look on her face and it only made Brick more confused. He's used to being able to read people, yet this blonde isn't like everybody else. One would naturally think upon seeing her that she wore her heart on her sleeve and yet, there was something beneath the surface he couldn't quite place his finger on. Maybe she isn't as happy-go-lucky as he'd originally thought. It was at that moment he noticed the hearing aids she was wearing, blending in so well with her skin tone he wouldn't have seen had he not been studying her, and he briefly wondered just when he had become so unobservant.

* * *

Blossom, while she anticipated Bubbles delay, didn't want to start without both her sisters. Though since Buttercup was here, that made staking out the mansion that much easier. Two is better than one after all, Blossom messaged Bubbles telling her where to meet them after she was done. Since it was the middle of the day they wouldn't really get a clear grasp of everyone's schedules, but a few more days of watching the house should help. Although the girls didn't know how much time they had, they knew they couldn't just rush into anything. This sort of operation took weeks to work everything out, especially since humans weren't exactly the most predictable creatures. Though if they could figure out everyone's basic schedules, then they could formulate a plan to help save those poor boys and Mr. Mojo. Maybe they could even expose Him. That would probably be the most dangerous part of the mission if they got caught, Him was not someone to be messed with, and he was not one to take mercy on others.

Blossom had yet to access the cameras around his house, something she was quite vexed with currently. Hacking into a camera system was easier than anything else you could hack into, it shouldn't be this difficult and yet it was. Him was not making hacking easy on her today, if she could somehow get her tablet closer she might be able to find the network they're on and get into their systems from there. One thing was for sure, this was not as simple a task as she first predicted considering the girls had been outside the Jojo mansion for hours now and neither could not see a single opening in the guards pattern. There was always someone else ready to stand and watch by the time the other one had to leave or move. They didn't take breaks or talk to each other, and they didn't get distracted by anyone. It was quite frustrating to say the least considering this mission wasn't supposed to be so excruciating and exhausting. Although she knew it wouldn't be a piece of cake, Blossom was not expecting it to be so uncooperative.

They were on a time crunch on getting the boys and Mojo out of that house, relocating them to a safer home, and if it worked out well they could hopefully imprison Him for all his crimes while they were at it. However she had not anticipated Him to be so prepared and paranoid about every seemingly insignificant detail, which she really should've expected. He was bound to have countless enemies with his line of work but still! Hacking into government systems is easier! The main reason Blossom's with the agency was because of her superior hacking skills, and yet they were being challenged by mediocre firewall after mediocre firewall. They weren't even really all that difficult, it was just that there were so many for absolutely no reason at all. It was just protecting pointless information, and she should know since she double checked everything. If she weren't a speed reader this would certainly be a lot more vexing than it already was.

Buttercup was steadily dying of boredom, whilst Blossom grew more frustrated with all the precautions Him had taken. The guy has got to be the most paranoid person on the planet. He better be hiding something really big, or all of this time spent will be wasted. Her and Blossom had been here for hours and still nothing. It would be easier to steal away the Queen of England for a day than it would be to rescue these boys. Never had they faced such a frustrating mission where they had to save someone. This was their fucking specialty for Christs sake! They did this all the fucking time, yet this piece of shit just to be so goddamn fucking cautious! It was insane to say the very least. After all the man experimented on his kids, no sane person would do that to their own flesh and blood... or anyone for that matter. For all she knows he still experiments on them! Yet Buttercup did as she was told and watched the guards diligently as Blossom went around every single simple little countermeasure Him had on his home.

"Now that's just creepy," Buttercup heard Blossom mutter.

"What is?" Buttercup inquired, looking over her sister's shoulder to look at the tablet, wrinkling her nose in disgust at what was on the screen. "Is that what I think it is?"

Blossom only nodded in reply, appalled at what she saw on her tablet. She had finally gotten access to the cameras and found one of the screens to be odd. When she got a closer look at it, she realized what exactly the room was. And to be quite frank, Blossom was repulsed. What kind of person kept a torture room? What year was this? 1507? The real question was who did he use them on? The boys? His husband? Both? Either way Him is much more dangerous and horrifying than they had previously realized. This man was not to be underestimated.

"This is going to be harder than previously estimated." Blossom announced, more to herself than to Buttercup.

"Who cares? We'll succeed just like always," Buttercup replied nonchalantly.

"What happens if we don't?" Blossom inquired, genuinely worried for her sisters safety for the first time in a long time when it concerned a mission.

"We will," Buttercup assured, "It does no good to worry about things like that."  
"But we don't know this guy, he is more unpredictable than any one else we've ever encountered."  
"We all have our habits, even this psycho."  
"You're right, we just need to stay calm and think logically."  
"We'll outsmart him just like we do with everyone else leader girl."  
"Yeah."

Meanwhile Boomer and Butch were completely unaware of what was taking place just outside their house. It probably wouldn't matter all that much even if they did considering they are currently at the gym, there is absolutely no way they would choose to stay home when they didn't have to. If hell was a real place, it would be their house. The gym was the first thing they found upon moving to Townsville, fortunately it helps them work off their anger in a healthy way, or at least that's what their dad says. Maybe Mojo just hopes they will get strong enough to get away from Him without having to worry about anything, but they'd never leave without their dad, he always helped them navigate their awful life.

Mojo did everything for his boys, did absolutely everything in his power to protect them for as long as he could. Unfortunately he wasn't aware about the experiments until it was too late, yet he still fought for them. Which was something Him did not like at all. Due to Mojo's strong will to protect the boys, he has put himself in more danger. He has always just laid down and taken the beatings from Him, but when it comes to the boys Mojo actually stands his grounds and fights back the best he can. Because of this he is often tortured and left to waste away in the basement for days at a time till Him thinks Mojo has been punished enough. Time after time however, Mojo has not learned his lesson to just let the boys be punished however Him sees fit. To be honest, it is not a lesson Mojo want to learn, for he will always protect his boys no matter what.

That was part of the reason why the boys couldn't leave even if they wanted to. Him is ruthless and who knows what he will do if he ever finds out the boys escaped, Mojo would surely be a goner. The thing was that Mojo couldn't find the strength in himself to leave. He felt it was his fault his husband was angry all the time and he just had to do better to satisfy him. That didn't mean the boys deserved it though and Mojo has on multiple occasions tried to get the boys to safety and away from Him. Those attempts have been thwarted every time and it was exhausting, especially when they started to insist that he run away with them. He could never do that though, he was married to Him till death do they part, and Mojo didn't really believe in divorce. Despite how nice it would be to be free from that man, Mojo knows that he would eventually track them down and probably kill them for daring to leave in the first place. He just couldn't risk it, he knew the boys would be safer without him. So there he would stay in a loveless marriage, Mojo's life didn't matter much in the long run to him any way.


	5. Chapter 4: Paranoia

Something was wrong. Him didn't know quite yet what it was yet, but something was off. Someone had gotten past his extensive security measures and precautions he had for his company. Some might call him paranoid, but he called it being safe. He had so many firewalls and protections just so someone wouldn't be able to break through, he even got notified when someone was trying to break through which he would then trace back to the source. With this person however, it almost looked like it did before. Nothing was out of place or hinted at someone hacking him, except for his hunch he had no proof he was hacked.

It irked him to no end, this hacker was clearly very experienced and was no doubt a genius. They had successfully shut down and rebooted his bots, and there was no way to trace anything back to the hackers origins. It was unnerving and Him was pissed. Who the fuck had the audacity to hack into _his_ systems? What the hell could they want, he only hoped they didn't find anything incriminating or suspicious. None of his files seemed to be tampered with, the perpetrator probably saw how many files he had and gave up. Though this person was clearly very experienced and was looking for something specific, and apparently not the type to give up easily; much to his dismay.

Though he would find the culprit no matter how long it took. Nobody is good enough to cover up all of their tracks seamlessly. Everyone got cocky and sooner or later would mess up, after all hubris is the downfall of man. Although coming into work on the weekend wasn't originally part of his plan, he thought something was wrong when he checked his files from home and he just had to see for himself if anything had been tampered with.

Which is why he is currently pacing back and forth in his office because nothing is out of the ordinary! He just has a hunch and his hunches are never wrong! Everybody leaves a trail to follow, a rabbit hole if you will. No one could get into his systems seamlessly, access all his files, make sure nothing looked disrupted, and make it look as if no one had even been there! It was completely unfathomable and had never happened in the history of his entire career. Sure, people have tried to hack in before but ultimately failed and been back traced to their location before they could swear out of frustration. Who was this person who had managed to thwart him? They are going to wish they were never born once he finds them, that's for sure. No one hacks his company and gets away with it. Little did he know that the person who had hacked him the first time was doing it again, and so far seems to be getting away with it much like she did the first time.

* * *

"Finally!" Blossom exclaimed.

Buttercup looked over at her quizzically but the redhead payed her no mind, she was finally in the computer mainframe to find the blueprints of the mansion in front of her. Her fingers flew swiftly across the keyboard as she dragged the file to her flash drive as well as searched for the guards schedule. With someone this paranoid there was a very slim chance that the guards schedules are the same day after day. Within moments Blossom found her hypothesis held up as she found their schedules, she also found that the same guards rarely worked more than once in the same week. Well that isn't suspicious at all, snapping out of her thoughts Blossom saved the schedules to her flash drive as well. There is just one more set of schedules to collect and then she could get out of here. She already knew Him's sons schedules, but she needed to know his and Mojo's too.

Buttercup sat hovering over Blossom's shoulder, never able to make herself unimpressed by her sister's fast work, always too fascinated by how fast the auburn haired girl works. Blossom on the other hand is too absorbed in the programming to acknowledge the fact her sister is breathing down her neck. She is so absorbed that she didn't even notice when Bubbles joined them, back from whatever she was doing today. At last Blossom found the adults schedules and saved them to the flash drive before hastily putting everything back into place, checking the camera's one last time, and erasing all evidence of her ever being in Him's mainframe. Sighing in relief Blossom turned around and gasped in shock at the sudden appearance of Bubbles. The blue eyed girl gave her a sheepish smile and waved slightly before asking if Blossom was done.

"Yes, I am," She replies,"We can go home now and discuss our plan of action."

It didn't take them too long to get home as they took the bus back, after all walking is out of the question considering how long it would take. The ride was quiet as the girls sat in silence, lost in their thoughts. As soon as they arrived back at the Utonium household they immediately went up to Blossom's room. Closing the door, Blossom turned around to look at her sisters. Bubbles and Buttercup sat patiently on the bed, waiting for their leader to speak. Without speaking Blossom heads for her desk and pops the flash drive into her computer, quickly pulling up the necessary information.

"Alright, since guard patterns change everyday we don't need to watch them as much as we normally would," Blossom informs them, "But that doesn't mean that we slack off either. We need to memorize which guards work which days and when their breaks are. While Buttercup and I were watching them today there was no signs of a break, however that doesn't mean there isn't one. In the mean time I will make a copy of the schedule and try to change it as minimally as possible so as not to raise suspicions while we rescue the boys."

"Is going in stealthily really our best option right now?" Buttercup wonders aloud.

"It's our only option right now, and the safest one too. We have access to the camera's so we'll be able to tamper with them while preforming our mission, but we are in over our heads here. We don't have the upper hand here and Him is very unpredictable. We need to stay cautious and alert as always. I am not going to risk our lives for theirs any more than I have to," Blossom says, a stern look on her face.

"We get that," Bubbles intervened before anything relating to a fight could happen, "We're just antsy to finish this mission, we've never had to deal with a psychopath before. Especially not one as paranoid as he is."

"I know," Blossom sighs, placing a hand on her forehead, "What we need to do for now is to continue to befriend the boys as well as study up on the blueprints. Memorize every detail of the house as if it is ours, recognize the guard patterns, and hopefully we'll be able to come up with a more strategic plan that won't end with us being killed by Him's hand."

Her sisters nod solemnly in reply before taking the printed version of the blueprints Blossom handed them. This would be tricky considering how big the house is, but it wouldn't be impossible. After all, the girls haven't failed yet. Sure they've had missions in the past stray from the plan, but none had ever cost them their lives. Well, now that Blossom thought about it, maybe it is time for a vacation from their job. Glancing over at Bubbles hearing aids for a second, Blossom rids herself of all those thoughts and focuses instead on changing the guard schedule.

* * *

 _Bubbles feels like she's been running forever, a young girl clinging to her as she roughly turns down another corridor. Gunfire is loud behind her and Bubbles struggles to pick up the pace, the crying girl becoming more of a hindrance with each step. It wasn't the girl's fault though, she had never run for so long and something went wrong with the mission. Her fiancee wasn't supposed to be home, and he certainly wasn't supposed to have friends with him. While nothing ever went to plan, at least things usually stuck to the basic outline! Bubbles just hoped her sisters heard her message before her com system got knocked out of her hand, shattering under the gunman's boot. The girl tripped over her own feet for what must have been the tenth time before Bubbles roughly grabbed her and picked her up. The sounds of heavy boots and gunfire getting closer spurred Bubbles waning energy to continue on. They were so close to being home free, as long as they made it out the front door and far enough away from the blast they would be fine. If they didn't... well Bubbles would prefer not to think about that thank you very much. Relief tugged at her heart as the front doors came into view, her own footsteps hit the ground hard as she continued on through the doors, barely making it 15 feet away as her body was thrown in the air due to the violent blast. Trying her hardest to protect the girl from the flying debris, Bubbles felt glass pierce her skin and braced herself for contact with the concrete, tilting her body slightly so as to cushion the girl's fall. Groaning, Bubbles forces herself to sit up to check the girl for injuries. She ignores the harsh ringing in her ears as she briefly wonders how the agency will cover this one up. Before she can really register it, Bubbles is on her feet again, determined to get the girl to safety. It seemed the girl was fine, but the blonde wasn't. Swallowing her bile, she pushed forward to the rendezvous point, ignoring the muffled sounds of the world around her. Slowing to a stop, she sees her sisters and a smile graces her features, glad that they weren't hurt. Stepping forward Bubbles loses her balance and passes out, giving into the suffocating darkness around her._

Shooting up in bed, Bubbles gasped in an attempt to get more air into her lungs. Sweat causes her locks to stick to her forehead, and she shoves her covers off her to get cooler. Glancing as the clock she notices that it's only 2 in the morning. She sighs before deciding to get a glass of tea from downstairs. Bubbles wondered why she suddenly had that dream again, especially considering it had been two years ago. Honestly Bubbles was lucky to get out mostly unscathed, though she was partially deaf it could still be worse. Reflecting back on the mission that seemed to happen ages ago, Bubbles was really glad the girl got relocated into a safe place with a loving family who wouldn't sell her for money. Last she heard the girl was going into high school and wanted to become a lawyer. Amazing the kind of impact you have on people sometimes. Still... maybe her subconscious is trying to tell her something. Bubbles really doesn't want another mishap so fatal to happen on a mission so maybe her fears of dealing with Him are bringing the negatives to her attention. Sipping the rest of her tea, Bubbles merely shrugs off the idea and decides to go back to bed. Maybe she should bring up her fears discreetly the next time she saw her therapist? Oh well, those thoughts can wait for tomorrow, when she's more awake and able to think better.


	6. Chapter 5: Misadventures

To say he has anger issues would be the understatement of the century, especially considering how much broken gym equipment he caused. It wasn't his fault he's so strong! Just because he got a little out of control sometimes didn't make him the bad guy. However the owners don't usually see it that way, even after reminding them of who his father is. This is why no matter how pissed off Butch is currently, he was trying to hold back his assault on the punching bags. He doesn't want to get banned from another gym, how else is he supposed to work off stress? On the other side of the gym Boomer was jogging, seemingly bored with the machine's limit. Apparently Butch isn't the only one not being challenged today. Rolling his shoulders, Butch continues punching the sand filled object swinging back and forth from the ceiling.

Honestly he is surprised he hadn't knocked the thing off yet, but he chooses not to really question it. The whole point of working out is to lose himself in the process, forget his troubles so to speak. Yet he could never forget them, not really. They always sat at the back of his mind, festering until he couldn't take it anymore. It's not like he asked to be born or experimented on! He didn't choose this life and he doesn't think anyone would willingly. Which is why Butch has a feeling Mojo has that Stockholm thing, why else would the man stay with Him for so long? Shaking his head once more, he decides to pop in his headphones, and turn the volume all the way up as a final attempt to drown out his loud thoughts. He isn't here to think about his messed up life or his fathers, he's here to let off steam. Out of the corner of his eyes he notices Boomer take place at a punching bag next to the green eyed teen. Barely sparing his brother a glance, Butch figures he must've given up on running. He couldn't blame him, running doesn't really help get rid of unwanted thoughts when your stamina is through the roof and you don't have to focus on breathing like regular humans do.

Without really thinking Butch stops holding back and send the punching bag flying through the air, falling just short of the other side of the gym. Witch a sheepish smile, Butch immediately races out of the gym, and leaving Boomer to his own devices. If Him found out what happened, Butch would surely loose his head. With a fearful gulp Butch recalled the last time he broke gym equipment. Running faster, he decides against going home and heads for the skate park. Once there he notices only a few people are there. That's strange, especially considering the amount of teens living in Townsville, maybe it's just too early? Shrugging, Butch decides to sit on the swings and people watch. Reflecting back on the earlier events of today, Butch really hoped Boomer didn't get in trouble for the bag. Surely they wouldn't think he had anything to do with it? It's in times like these he could only assume the blond felt relieved at not looking too much like him. Butch tilts his head back to look at the sky and decides to let his mind wander to more pleasant thoughts. They didn't happen often so he'll take what he can get.

Boomer on the other hand is feeling a tad miffed about the whole situation. Though he knew it was instinct, he still couldn't believe his brother essentially abandoned him. Looking shockingly at the punching bag across the way, Boomer decides to make his leave as well. Thankfully nobody questions him as he leaves and he hastily makes his way back home before thinking better of it. The day is still young after all, so maybe he could find something better to do? That's the problem though as Boomer can't think of anything. There are only so many places he knew, and most of them required money. Shrugging, he decides a nice walk will do. Butch probably went to a park, and while Boomer's still upset over the situation he doesn't feel like confronting his brother right now. Objectively he know's why Butch ran, but still! Sighing, Boomer continues on his way to nowhere in particular.

Looking up from the ground, Boomer notices the sun starting to set and thinks maybe he should head home. The thought is quickly lost however as notices how much more stunning the sunset is here compared to that of Citiesville. There you could just barely see the sun setting through the smog, here you could see just how many different colors the sky turns. It's a collection of colors anywhere from blues and purples to vibrant oranges and reds, they mixed harshly in a magnificent way. Quickly snatching out his phone he decides to snap a picture, disbelief shining in his eyes. He never knew colors could blend so perfectly together and he realizes that this is a metaphor for both places he's lived. Citiesville is bland and dark, while Townsville is exciting and loud. It's such a stark contrast that Boomer can't help but feel at ease due to this. He's sure it signifies hope, that just around the bend are better things. It's then that the buzzing of his phone startles him out of his thoughts, looking at it he sees the time. Crap! He needed to get home _now_. Him is sure to be home any minute now and it would not do well for Boomer to miss curfew. Forgetting all about the hopeful feeling, Boomer takes off in the direction of home.

Running around back, Boomer sees Butch vault up to his bedroom window. Thinking quickly the blond does the same and finds a shocked Butch stand still for a second before moving to close his window. Boomer takes a second to catch his breath before his advanced hearing captures the sound of the front door opening. Suddenly standing straight up, both brothers make their way downstairs to meet Him. They quickly catch up to Brick, who of course was very prompt as usual. The red eyed teen merely glances at them for a second before focusing his attention on the vindictive man they are forced to live with.

"Hello Father," The boys greet in unison.

"Welcome home dear," Mojo says sweetly, smile on his face.

Him simply grunts in acknowledgment and heads to his study, obviously in a foul mood. Wisely they all stayed out of his way and decide to go back to what they were previously doing. For Mojo it was making dinner, for the boys it was simply to hide away in their rooms. Boomer sends a glare Butch's way who in turn smiles and holds up his hands in surrender. Rolling his eyes at their antics, Brick simply makes his way back up to his room. He wasn't daft, he knew very well both of them had just gotten home as well. The red eyed boy had smartly chosen to come home as soon as him and Bubbles were done with the tour. While he hadn't liked the idea of going straight home, he knew he would barely make it back in time if he didn't. Much like his brothers it seemed.

Once in his room, Brick decides to log onto his computer. He doesn't really have much to do considering what little homework he had is already done. Opting to listen to music, he turns on Spotify and reflects on the happenings of today. He learned a hidden side to the queen of sunshine, which quite possibly is the key to understanding the peculiar situation before him. The girl, while hyperactive, doesn't always stay true to her namesake. For one, it seems like she put up more of a front. Sure she's happy as can be, but that didn't mean she's happy all the time. He certainly thought so at first before noticing her more dismal side. It's very obvious to see she easily got lost in her head, and it was only more so when he saw her empty look on the bench. He isn't sure what caused it, though he knew it probably had to do with her late younger sister. Although it wasn't the whole reason for Bubbles sudden shift in personality. The more he discovered, the more mysterious she seemed to become. Her sisters surely would too, of that Brick had no doubt.

Faintly he hears a call and assumes dinner is ready. Sighing, he turns off his music and closes his computer, not noticing the notification sitting patiently waiting to be seen. Brick takes his time going downstairs and sits down in his usual seat. To his left is Boomer and on his right is Butch. Mojo sits at the end of the table and a place setting is at the head of the table for Him. Awkwardly they sit, patiently waiting for Him to finish up whatever he's doing in his study. Mojo tries to make conversation while they bide their time, however none of them are up for talking and the silence persists. Roughly twenty minutes pass before they finally hear a door open, shortly after the man of the hour appears, finally deciding to grace them with his presence. Him takes the first bite of food and they follow suit. The food, while delicious, did nothing to distract them from the tense atmosphere. Brick takes notice of Boomer picking at his food and decides to have a talk with the blue eyed boys later, after all Brick doesn't want him to fall back into his bad habits. Meanwhile Him makes no move to acknowledge his family and simply eats at a dragging pace, possibly wishing to have a word with the other man of the household before the night is over. He then takes a napkin and dabs at the nonexistent food on his face before fixing his husband with a glare and clearing his throat. Immediately the boys vacate the dining room, dispense their dishes in the dishwasher, and retreat to their respective rooms. Willing for sleep to claim them so as not to hear the screams... sorry, the discussion happening downstairs.

* * *

Later that night, or possibly early the next day, all the way across town a teen girl is having trouble resting peacefully as one should. Toss and turn as she might, it did nothing to help Bubbles go back to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes the explosion replayed over and over in her mind, different scenarios popping up each time. Some had the little girl dying, some had her dying, and some even showed Bunny in them. The last one is what really kept Bubbles from falling back to sleep. The purple eyed girl was taken from them too soon, all because the Professor's rival decided arson would be fun. Sure, Dick hadn't planned on Bunny being with the Professor, but that didn't make it okay. Dick knew John was staying late that night and planned on killing or seriously hurting him. It didn't help that it was a lab that had many dangerous chemicals lying around. A wave of guilt overtook Bubbles as she remembered how long it has been since she last visited Bunny. Maybe her and her sisters could visit later today? Sighing, Bubbles checks the clock and notices that three hours have gone by since she first woke up.

Getting out of bed, the blonde elects to go for an early morning run. Pulling her locks up into a ponytail and lacing up her sneakers she solidifies the decision. Yes, a run would make her feel better. Filling up her water bottle she leaves a note for her family before they wake up. Just as she finishes signing her name, Bubbles hears the creaking of stairs and looks up to see Buttercup. To say she was shocked at the brunettes appearance would be an understatement, much less taking into consideration the girl is already dressed. Even on her best days, the girl practically refused to get up before noon. The fact that the girl had _willingly_ gotten up before sunrise and gotten dressed surprised the blonde so much she forgot how to speak and merely looked at Buttercup with curious eyes.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Buttercup asks, seeming to just notice the other person in the room.

"Yeah, want to go for a run with me?" Bubbles regains her speech, observing the workout apparel her slightly older sister is sporting.

"Sure, why not?" The green eyed girl shrugs, grabbing a bottled water from the fridge.

With that, both girls head out, choosing to take a longer route than normal. They could tell the other one is tense too, and running would help clear their heads. Unbeknownst to both of them, they had similar dreams. Though Buttercup's is more along the lines of her being the primary reason for Bubbles lost hearing. Glancing at the typically pig tailed girl's hearing aids, Buttercup's heart felt heavy. The green eyed girl merely swallows the lump in her throat and focuses her attention back on the road ahead of her. Logically she knew Bubbles accident wasn't her fault, however logic did nothing to ease Buttercup's guilt. She was the one who gave the okay, so sure her sister was out of harms way. There was no way she could've known, but if she'd just waited a few more seconds Bubbles would still have her hearing. 'What ifs' would be the death of Buttercup if she kept throwing pity parties like this, sighing softly the green girl turned blue shakes her hear once more. Bubbles raises an eyebrow at the teen's antics, but the brunette merely waves her unasked question away.

Meanwhile outside a rather large mansion the birds sing happily, oblivious to the troubles of humans. Inside sat a man with emptiness in his eyes, sipping on his coffee and reading the morning paper. He's far too distracted by his loud thoughts to even try and process the words on the page before him. He has a husband, three wonderful children, and a nice house. Typically people who had that lead full and happy lives, yet Mojo's life is far from full and happy. His husband is a cruel and viscous man while his children suffered along side Mojo. Every night is a gamble on the black man's life, just how far will Him take it? When will the sunburned man go too far? Mojo can't even see the man he knew anymore, the one he originally married. Him never used to be so malevolent, so surely Mojo is doing something wrong. He just doesn't know what it is yet, despite trying harder every single day to make life as easy for his husband as possible. Somehow Mojo just got under the man's skin and didn't know how to get back out. Try as he might, Mojo just isn't doing his best the be an amazing husband. If he was then surely Him wouldn't be so callous. Right now he's just attempting to stay out of the way, to not bring attention to himself so to speak. Maybe if he's quieter then his words would not cause such distress upon the other man. Feeling something on his bruised cheek, Mojo turns to see the loving gaze of Him. Upon realizing he was given a kiss, Mojo gladly beams back up at his husband.

"I'm sorry I've been in such a bad mood lately," Him starts, stroking Mojo's face, "Work has been so stressful lately."

"It's not your fault dear," Mojo reassures, "I'll do better to make everything at home less straining for you."

"Thank you for understanding," Him replies, leaning in and giving a passionate kiss to the other man.


End file.
